In this weekly feature, I-CONnect publishes a curated reading list of developments in comparative public law. “Developments” may include a selection of links to news, high court decisions, new or recent scholarly books and articles, and blog posts from around the comparative public law blogosphere.

To submit relevant developments for our weekly feature on “What’s New in Comparative Public Law,” please email contact.iconnect@gmail.com.

Developments in Constitutional Courts

The Indian Supreme Court observed that criticizing the government or its policies does not qualify as sedition.

The Indian Supreme Court willconsider the question of whether it is permissible to restrict free speech on the grounds of constitutional compassion and constitutional sensitivity.

The U.S.Supreme Courtrejected Michigan’s appeal of aninjunction that would not allow the state to ban straight-ticket voting.

The Italian Supreme Court held that masturbating in public is not an illegal act.

The German Constitutional Court ruled that if family members who live in the same household can reasonably be expected to manage the household out of pooled resources, the income and assets of another family member may be taken into account in determining an applicant’s neediness as required when granting benefits intended to secure the recipient’s existential needs.

In the News

President Obama nominated a Muslim lawyer to be a U.S. District Court Judge. If the nomination is confirmed, he will be the first federal judge following Muslim faith.

Justice Jasti Chelameswar, a senior judge of the Indian Supreme Court, refused to participate in the Supreme Court Collegium meetings showing his protest against the lack of transparency in its judicial appointments process.

A group of Costa Rican citizens approachedthe Supreme Elections Tribunal with a request for a public referendum on formulating a new constitution.

Two women rights groups in Kenya are set to file a petition to challenge the conduct of Parliament and the Attorney General with regards to the two thirds gender principle.

The Indian President gave his assent to the Constitution Amendment Bill on Goods and Services Tax paving way for a uniform system of indirect taxation in the country.

TheAruban legislaturevotedto give official recognition to same-sex couples, giving them the right to register their unions and receive the benefits granted to other married people.

Patrick Macklem, The Form and Substance of Aboriginal Rights: Assimilation, Recognition, Reconciliation, in The Oxford Handbook of the Canadian Constitution, N. Des Rosiers, P. Macklem and P. Oliver (eds.) (forthcoming 2017) (arguing that constitutional reconciliation can only commence by comprehending Aboriginal rights and title as protecting Indigenous interests associated with culture, territory, treaties and sovereignty in robust terms—terms, if met, which will have profound structural consequences for the constitutional relationship between Indigenous peoples and Canada)

Ernest Caldwell, Chinese Constitutionalism: Five-Power Constitution, in Max Planck Encyclopedia of Comparative Constitutional Law, Rainer Grote, Franke Lachenmann and Rüdiger Wolfrum(eds.) (forthcoming) (discussing the contents and tumultuous history of the Chinese Constitution which provides for five branches of government as opposed to the general tradition of tripartite separation of powers between the legislature, executive and the judiciary)

Calls for Papers and Announcements

The Thailand Institute of Justice will be organizing the Institute for Global Law & PolicyAsian Regional Workshop in Bangkok from January 6-11, 2017. Interested applicants must submit their application by September 30, 2016.

TheAmerican Constitution Society will be hostingthe Junior Scholars Public Law Workshop at the AALS Annual Meetingin San Francisco on January 5, 2017. Interested participants must submit their papers, in any field related to public law, by October 15, 2016to juniorscholarsworkshop@acslaw.org.

The School of Law at Trinity College, Dublin will holdthe 2017 meeting of the Berkeley Comparative Equality and Anti-Discrimination Law Study Group from June 15-16, 2017. Participants must submit their presentation proposals or applications to participate as a discussant/panel chair by November 1, 2016.

The Commonwealth Journal of Constitutional Law & Public Policy is inviting manuscripts for it upcoming issue – Volume 2, Issue 2. The deadline for submission is September 30, 2016.

The Indian Journal of Constitutional Studies is inviting papers for its inaugural issue.Interested authors must submit their manuscripts to editor@ijcons.com by September 15, 2016.

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